Sunday, August 06, 2006

For you PJ, since you used to reside in FLA. Did you ever go through one or not?

How to Prepare for a Hurricane

Hurricane Francis
Hurricane season (usually lasting from June 1 through November 30) can be a nerve wracking time for everyone. Not only for those whose homes are in the path of one, but for families and relatives alike who may worry about those people. Preparedness is not just necessary, but having a plan will help you and your loved ones keep their peace of mind during this stressful time.

Steps
Throughout the Year
Keep a Hurricane Preparedness Kit packed (see "Things You'll Need"). This assures that you will lessen the amount of things you'll have to do when the time comes. Also, items such as batteries are easier to find when everyone else isn't panicking. (Hint: Keep batteries in the fridge for longest life.) As a bonus, if any other event, such as a fire occurs, you'll be prepared for that as well.

Create a "take box". The take box should have everything you need to reconstruct your life in the event you evacuate and everything is lost. Passports; birth, wedding, adoption, divorce, and armed service separation certificates; copies of insurance policies; mortgage information; house and car title; large purchase receipts. You get the idea. If you have a scanner, save yourself space and heartbreak by scanning family albums and images of other keepsakes, burn those to CD and keep a copy in your take box.

Discuss and practice a disaster plan with your family. One of the most important lessons from hurricane Katrina to make sure everyone in the family knows who to contact (and how to contact them) as an out of area contact. Make sure kids know enough information so that an adult can get in touch with that person should sudden evacuation be necessary when you aren't near them. Practice this, and make other back up plans. This can be as involved as you like, but keep in mind the ages and temperaments of individuals to assure everything runs smoothly in the event you have to evacuate immediately. See Tips below for examples on how to do a run-through.
Keep in touch with friends and family that are out of the potential disaster area,and make arrangements to stay with them, in case you have to evacuate.
Assure that insurance matters are kept up to date. Note: most regular home insurance does not include flood coverage in the policy, so you'll have to buy this separately.

1 comment:

dad-e~O said...

no major huricanes, just a couple of minor ones. The year after we moved the house we sold flooded.